TEANECK, N.J. -- Forget top MLB Draft prospects or big name Division I schools: The college baseball game on every fan’s mind on Tuesday was taking place on a small field -- one without lights -- five miles from the George Washington Bridge. Usually the home of Fairleigh Dickinson University,? on this day it played host to a doubleheader between two teams whose combined losing streaks had reached 141 games entering the action.
On one side was Yeshiva University, a modern Orthodox Jewish school in Washington Heights at the northern tip of Manhattan, which had lost 99 consecutive games. Only two players on its current roster had ever been on the field for a victory before.
On the other side was the Bronx’s Lehman College, coming in with its own 42-game losing streak. Not only had its head coach, Chris Delgado, never presided over a victory, he had actually been on the Lehman roster as a player the last time they won a game.
Lehman's losing streak ended first after claiming the first game in a tight, 7-6, extra-innings affair (in college, doubleheaders go seven innings), pushing Yeshiva's skid to 100 games. The Maccabees finally put a stake in their streak when they stormed back in the nightcap with a 9-5 victory.
The few remaining fans, who had braved the cold for over five hours, erupted with glee. After 100 consecutive losses and an 0-18 record all-time against Lehman College, Yeshiva University was victorious.
This contest had become a viral sensation online. Baseball YouTubers like DSArm created videos about it and redditors like u/Conscious_Apple_8610 -- himself a former professional player -- kept fans up to date. As the calendar date approached, with the two teams on a collision course with destiny, excitement ratcheted up, as baseball fans around the world hoped that neither team would pick up a victory before the matchup.
The game had been moved to a neutral site after rain and cold weather lashed New York City earlier in the week, leading Lehman College to worry that its natural grass field wouldn’t be playable for Tuesday’s doubleheader. Despite the change in venue, the thermometer hovering below 40 degrees at first pitch and 30 mph wind gusts battering the field, the fans packed Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.
The bleachers behind home plate were filled with fans, both young and old, bundled against the cold. Dozens more – mostly young fans arriving when their local high schools let out for the afternoon -- crowded in behind Yeshiva University’s dugout. They sang, chanted, heckled and danced all game long, giving the game a feeling closer to that of a soccer match or recent March Madness contests.
Some, like Sol Ehrlich, took a day off of work for this.
“I follow a lot of baseball-related YouTube channels,” Ehrlich said. “This one guy highlighted Yeshiva University, and then pointed out that there was a historic matchup against Lehman College. I just needed to take the day off of work and be a part of history.”
Others, like James Logan Hatch, simply love the game too much to miss a chance to see history.
“Just being a fan of the game, you can't miss something like this,” Logan Hatch said. “This is pure sport. This is just lovely.”
The crowd skewed heavily toward Yeshiva University fans -- whether because they attended the school and had taken the short trip over the George Washington Bridge, or simply because, well, how could you not root for a team on a 99-game losing streak? Many in attendance thought they would see Yeshiva snap the streak in the first game.
They held a tight 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth inning when the Lehman Lightning began to mount a comeback. But during that frame, three runners were caught on the basepaths -- one getting picked off at second, another caught trying to steal third, and one finally getting thrown out at home -- and the crowd went wild.
“Today you get an intersection of the two longest losing streaks in college baseball,” Daniel Beyda, a Yeshiva University student seen cheering in the above clip, said. “We want a chance to watch history.”
If Yeshiva held on to win, he was ready to storm the field. However, if they got swept, “I might have to transfer,” Beyda deadpanned.
Unfortunately for Beyda and the YU faithful, after Yeshiva tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth inning, Lehman came back to tie the game in the top of the seventh to push the game into extra innings. Then, in the eighth inning, a hit-by-pitch drove in Lehman’s 7th run, enough to give the Lightning and Delgado his first career win.
Pitcher Justin Chamorro threw a complete game, tossing all eight innings in the victory, striking out a career-high 13 batters. He wasn’t leaving anything to chance.
“I told Coach Delgado he wasn't going to take me out of this game,” Chamorro said. “If there was going to be 12 innings, I was going to pitch all 12 innings. If I was going to lose, it was by my own sword. I was not going to let anybody take that game away from me no matter what happened.”
Yeshiva University didn’t let the game get close in the nightcap. With the sun beginning its descent, the Maccabees got the bats going early. Back-to-back RBI doubles and an RBI groundout gave Yeshiva a quick 3-0 lead in the first. Lehman scratched two across in the top of the third, but Yeshiva responded with four runs in the bottom half to put the game away.
With a 9-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning, Yeshiva University called on Noah Steinmetz to record the last two outs. The younger brother of D-backs prospect Jacob Steinmetz and son of Yeshiva’s basketball coach Elliot Steinmetz, Noah gave up the final run on a wild pitch before shutting the door.
The losing streak was over. The team could relax and breathe a sigh of relief. Both sides had ended their skids and could now look ahead to the future.
“I really appreciate [the fans who came out],” Lehman’s head coach Delgado said. "The cold weather was not our best friend today, for the fans and for the players. It's definitely a sense of relief, and I feel happy for this side and for Yeshiva as well. It’s a long time coming. I feel like it was a successful day for both programs and something both programs needed to be able to move forward from the failures in the past.”